In general, a display panel device consists of a substrate layer, a number of display pixels disposed on the surface of the substrate, and pixel switching circuitry. The display pixels are arranged in a form of plural rows and columns.
Conventionally, flexible substrates such as a plastic substrate have been utilized to provide a mechanical flexibility to display devices. However, there has been a limitation to the degree of flexibility since the flexibility of the display panel relies on only that of the plastic substrate. In addition, the mechanical stress caused by bending or flexing is propagated throughout the whole displaying area, particularly the display pixels. Therefore, the display performance characteristics of the pixels are adversely affected so that it can not work properly as a display device, especially when excessively bent or severely flexed.
Accordingly, there is a need to solve the conventional problems noted above and to provide a novel flexible display device in which its flexibility can be maximized and the propagation of mechanical stress can be minimized, without damaging the display performance.